The 2012 NFL season,
the 93rd regular season of the National Football League, is set to begin
Wednesday, September 5, 2012, and will end with Super Bowl XLVII on Sunday,
February 3, 2013, at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans.

Here are some of the legitimate
ways to watch NFL games beyond those available on over-the-air broadcasts and
basic cable:

•Many games are offered through the NFL Network channel.
You can order this from your cable or satellite provider. This channel carries
all the preseason games, weekly season games and hosts the popular show, NFL
Total Access. It also includes “NFL Replay,” which offers the five best games of the week.

•For a free but legitimate viewing option, check out Hulu‘s
NFL page online. You can watch past games, highlights and interviews. Just look
under your favorite team’s name or in the Game of the Week section.

Instant
bad memories for Oakland: In the last game that
counted in Oakland, after Denver
lost at home to Kansas City,
all the Raiders had to do was beat the Chargers to go to the playoffs for the
first time since 2002. However, San
Diego, which was eliminated from the playoff race the
week before, hammered the Raiders 38-26, keeping them out of the playoffs. It
also cemented Hue Jackson’s departure from Oakland. Now, the Dennis Allen-led Raiders
can get off to a good start in 2012 by handling the same Chargers.

The
Thomas-Taylor showdown: Stepping onto the field in Denver
on Sunday night will likely cause Pittsburgh
cornerback Ike Taylor to shake a little. On the last play of a game that
counted on that field, Denver receiver Demaryius
Thomas stiff-armed and badly beat Taylor on his
way to a 80-yard touchdown pass from former Denver quarterback Tim Tebow on the first
offensive play of overtime to give the Broncos a wild-card-round victory over
the Steelers. The play will live forever in both Denver
and Pittsburgh.
I’m sure Manning will try to create some new memories for Thomas and Taylor if
the opportunity presents itself Sunday night.

By
June 2012, the league and the NFL Referees Association had not yet come to
terms on a new collective bargaining agreement, thus failing to resolve a labor
dispute. Accordingly, the NFL has locked out the regular NFL game officials,
and thus opened the 2012 preseason with replacement referees.

The
replacements consist low-level college and high school officials. None will be
Division I college referees since the league wants to protect them from union
backlash and to let them continue working their scheduled games during the
concurrent college football season.

After
being locked out, the NFL Referees Association accused the league of planning
to lock them out all along rather than negotiate a new contract.

Furthermore,
the referees contend that the lockout will jeopardize the safety of the
players, and the integrity of the game, citing the fact that none of the
replacement officials will come from the top college divisions and thus do not
have enough experience to adjust to the speed of the NFL game and enforcing the
various players' safety rules. The league has denied these claims, saying that
they have negotiated in good faith.

Add
it all up and the Ravens have the option of parting ways with McKinnie if he
doesn't keep his weight under control and prove he's one of the team's five
best linemen. If he can't beat out Oher, Baltimore
won't keep him around as a backup, even if it did pay him a $500,000 roster
bonus in the offseason. McKinnie still has time to change some minds, but he
needs to be able to run and move and handle the fast-paced, up-tempo style game
that Baltimore
wants its line to play. It's just my hunch, but unless injuries occur, I'd put
my money on Oher at left tackle in Week 1's Monday nighter at home against
division rival Cincinnati.

Ray
Lewis is definitely leaner, but time will tell if his game got meaner. Entering
his 17th NFL season, Lewis decided on his own that it was time to shed some
weight and gain some speed at inside linebacker. He has said he's "much
lighter'' than his listed 240 pounds, after playing near 260 last season, and I
believe it judging from the eyeball test. Lewis looks to be in the 230 range,
and at the camp practice I attended, when he and 225-pound Ravens safety
Bernard Pollard were standing side by side, it was difficult to tell who
weighed more.

Paul
Kruger, outside linebacker. No pressure on Kruger this season. All he has to do
is replace the league's reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year in Terrell
Suggs, who tore his Achilles' tendon this offseason and likely won't return to
his high-impact self until 2013. Suggs, of course, has been one of the NFL's
most disruptive players from his weakside rush-linebacker slot, and in reality
the Ravens know that one player alone probably can't make up for his lost
production.

The
Ravens already knew Kruger had strong pass rush skills, but they've been
encouraged this camp by his improvement in the area of pass coverage, knowing
when and how to go into his drops. Staying healthy and surviving the 16-game
grind is another key for Kruger, but he's off to a strong start and seems
determined to seize the starting opportunity at hand and make sure the Ravens
season didn't end when Suggs went down.